Pennsylvania: Archdiocese Defends Bail for Monsignor

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

January 3, 2014

A church official who recently won an appeal of his conviction in the priest-abuse scandal was released from custody on Friday, and Philadelphia’s Roman Catholic archbishop defended the decision to use church funds to help with the bail. The official, Msgr. William J. Lynn, was at an undisclosed location after being fitted with an electronic monitoring device, his lawyer said. He was due in court Monday for a bail hearing. Monsignor Lynn is the first American church official to have been charged for hiding complaints that priests were molesting children. District Attorney Seth Williams said he would appeal the reversal of the conviction, and criticized the archdiocese for helping post bail. Archbishop Charles Chaput said that helping the priest come up with $25,000 to post 10 percent of his bail was “reasonable and just” and that the money “has been taken from no parish, school or ministry resources, impacts no ongoing work of the church and will be returned when the terms of bail are completed.”